Beyonce fans Brianna Pollard, left, and Vanecia Dodd both came from Florida to camp out in front of the Main stage for Beyonc’s headlining set during the second day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on April 14, 2018. (Photo by Matt Masin, Contributing Photographer)

More than 200 fans from Alabama, Florida and other parts of the country flew out and camped near the mainstage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to grab a prime viewing spot for headliner Beyoncé.

Stephanie Days and Tamela Washington staked out the front row nearly nine hours before Beyoncé was expected to perform.

It’s the first time the duo from Birmingham, Alabama, said they had agreed to camp out all-day for one artist.

“Only for the Queen,” Days said.

For Days, it was difficult to pick one song she wanted to hear more than others. She said it was fine if Beyoncé chose not to bring out her husband Jay-Z or members of Destiny’s Child to the stage.

“I’ll be happy with just her in real life this close,” she said while shielding herself from the sun in the front row.

Days said what impressed her most about Beyoncé was her talent.

“She does everything well,” she said. “She’s a dancer. She’s a vocalist. She’s a businesswoman.”

A few hundred feet behind, Atlanta native Natasha Pollard sat toward the middle of the stage in a chair she brought to the festival.

Pollard, who received a hat from a newfound friend near her, said she got there at 11:30 a.m.

Pollard said she wanted to see Beyoncé bring out artists like Jay-Z. She also hoped for a Destiny’s Child reunion.

“It would be exciting,” she said.

Dylan Ross of Texas sat next to Pollard. She wore a white top and shorts with lemon prints to celebrate Beyoncé’s last album, “Lemonade.”

Ross said she wanted to hear “Formation” more than any other song and see guests such as Nicki Minaj, Frank Ocean and members of Destiny’s Child.

Tay, who declined to give her last name, came to Coachella from Miami, Florida, to see Beyoncé.

She and her friend bought six waters and two frozen lemonades and planned to wait nearly nine hours before the show was set to begin.

“As much as we want to explore, we won’t do that until tomorrow,” she said.

Tay said she wouldn’t mind if no guests were brought on stage during the headlining set.

“Just her,” she said. “She’s all I need. The leader of the free nation — that’s what I call her.”

Shane Newell joined The Press-Enterprise in October 2017. He covers Canyon Lake, Corona, Lake Elsinore, Temecula, Murrieta and Wildomar. He was a community reporter covering Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel for the Orange County Register from September 2016 to September 2017. He graduated from Stanford University in 2016 with a master's degree in communication. He earned his bachelor's in journalism from Long Beach State in 2015. Among his favorite stories were his 2016 feature on Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King and his life as one of the nation's most prolific NFL reporters and a 2017 look at the Riverside roots of Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes.